For Xia Guangyao, chairman of Wenzhou Jialunte Textile & Finery Co Ltd in Zhejiang province, 2013 has been the worst of the past five years for his business.

The number of orders from the United States and European countries was expected to be 50 percent lower than 2010, even a bit lower than 2012, he said. The average amount of a single order was also cut from 1,000 units to 500 as market demand in the US and Europe remained low, which slashed the profit margin from 15 percent to about 8 percent .

Xia said the dwindling amount of orders from overseas since last year was the major challenge. The continuous appreciation of the yuan further ate into the profit margin.